Skip to main content
How to Win Friends and Save the Republic

How to Win Friends and Save the Republic

By National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers

Hear from the people, organizations, and movements that are working to reform American democracy into a more perfect union.

The National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers (NANR) is a member-led Association dedicated to structural election reforms in the public interest. We provide support to our member organizations through shared resources, best practices, and regular convenings.

What unites us is being pro-voter, not anti-party. We favor a robust competition of numerous political parties and independents, and a level playing field on which that can occur.
Available on
Apple Podcasts Logo
Google Podcasts Logo
Pocket Casts Logo
RadioPublic Logo
Spotify Logo
Currently playing episode

Appetite for Corruption (with Josh Silver)

How to Win Friends and Save the RepublicAug 01, 2021

00:00
27:51
Following the Science (with Aaron Hamlin)

Following the Science (with Aaron Hamlin)

Aaron Hamlin is the co-founder and executive director of The Center for Election Science, a nonprofit that is probably best known as a champion of an alternative voting method called Approval Voting. Aaron’s educational background and career experience have spanned the gamut, but through it all, as he explains in this episode, he has tried to use math and statistics to help make the world a little be better. 

Apr 06, 202236:59
Seeking Approval in Utah (with Nate Allen)

Seeking Approval in Utah (with Nate Allen)

We're joined by Nate Allen, founder and Executive Director of Utah Approves, to discuss Approval Voting and his perspective on changing the incentives of our elections. 

Mar 18, 202236:36
Untangling the Political News (with Issac Saul)

Untangling the Political News (with Issac Saul)

Issac Saul has written about just about everything as a journalist, but politics is a bit more personal.  In 2019 he founded Tangle, an independent, ad-free, non-partisan politics newsletter that summarizes the best arguments from the left and the right on the news of the day. We sat down with Issac to discuss his career, his feelings about bias in the media, and how he copes with covering difficult issues. 

Mar 11, 202240:04
The Unicorn is Democracy (with Katie Fahey)

The Unicorn is Democracy (with Katie Fahey)

Katie Fahey led Voters Not Politicians' anti-gerrymandering campaign to successfully amend the Michigan state constitution. In this episode, we visit with her about her experience transitioning from being a grassroots advocate to a national leader for democracy reform. 

Dec 17, 202138:54
Listening to All Sides (with John Gable)
Dec 03, 202137:42
The Emperor Has No Clothes (with Katherine Gehl)
Nov 19, 202142:09
A New Generation of Citizens (with Elizabeth Clay Roy)

A New Generation of Citizens (with Elizabeth Clay Roy)

We've all heard that "children are our future," but few organizations have connected that sentiment to democracy building like Generation Citizen. Their CEO Elizabeth Clay Roy shares with us her passion for education, civics, and the power of "action civics" to build a better democracy for tomorrow by starting with students of today. 

Nov 05, 202136:11
Rank the Vote US (with Nathan Lockwood and Monica Burke)
Nov 05, 202133:53
More Choice San Diego

More Choice San Diego

From looking at the coalition behind More Choice San Diego, you might assume things came together effortlessly and overnight. Truth is, it took years of hard work and patient negotiation - as all good coalitions do. Chad Peace joins us to share his experience of working with the group and where they're at now.

Oct 29, 202129:42
Integrity in the Heartland (with Benjamin Singer)

Integrity in the Heartland (with Benjamin Singer)

Benjamin Singer, CEO of Show Me Integrity in Missouri, shares his compelling story finding purpose in democracy reform, not just for himself but quite literally for the lives of his friends, family, and neighbors. 

Oct 22, 202136:45
A New Promise to America (with Jeff Clements)
Sep 24, 202137:34
Building bigger bridges (with Debilyn Molineaux)

Building bigger bridges (with Debilyn Molineaux)

Debilyn Molineaux's name is synonymous with cross-partisan bridge building and the importance of civil dialogue in a democratic society. In this episode with visit with Debilyn about her path from advertising to being a candidate for public office to co-founding some of the most influential bridging organizations in the democracy ecosystem. 

Sep 17, 202133:21
Gaining an outside perspective (with John Palmer and Bruce Goldberg)

Gaining an outside perspective (with John Palmer and Bruce Goldberg)

John Palmer works in finance; his friend, Bruce Goldberg, works in health care. Although their careers have little to do with politics or political reform, over time they came to realize that American democracy was broken and the only way to save it was by reform the system. We sat down with John and Bruce to better understand why they believe reform is necessary and hear what their experience has taught them about the community.

Sep 10, 202143:06
Taking it back from the political machine (with Francis Johnson)

Taking it back from the political machine (with Francis Johnson)

Francis Johnson, president of Take Back Our Republic, joins the show to share how his exposure to the political machine at an early age shaped his career in politics and, eventually, to a position of trying to reform democracy. 

Sep 03, 202131:17
Changing the incentives (with John Pudner)

Changing the incentives (with John Pudner)

A reformed political operative himself, John Pudner founded Take Back Our Republic to work on reforming American democracy so that politicians are incentivized by good governance rather than foreign money and by fair representation rather than special interests. We visit with John about his roots as a paperboy in a diverse Richmond neighborhood to an education in journalism and a career in politics, including how he stopped helping candidates win and started creating a system worth winning.

Aug 27, 202138:37
Democracy: There's an app for that (with Sara Gifford and Victor Allis)
Aug 20, 202130:17
What exactly do we mean by "open primaries?" (with John Opdycke)

What exactly do we mean by "open primaries?" (with John Opdycke)

From his run for class president in 3rd grade to forming a 3rd-party political party in New York state, John Opdycke is no stranger to disrupting the political system. In this episode we hear from John about the value of independent voters and how open primaries—in its many forms—can be a catalyst for improving not just our politics, but our government as a whole.

Bio: 

John Opdycke is the President of Open Primaries and is one of the country’s most visible and vocal advocates for primary reform. John grew up outside Chicago in Evanston, Illinois and later attended the University of Michigan. He began his career as a fundraiser and researcher for the Rainbow Lobby, which advocated for ballot access and debate reform in the United States and supported the pro-democracy movement in the Congo (Zaire).

In 1992, John joined Dr. Lenora Fulani's independent campaign for president as a regional fundraising director, and in 1994 he also assisted Dr. Fulani in her campaign against Mario Cuomo in the New York Democratic Party gubernatorial primary. That same year, John participated in the founding of the New York State Independence Party, a state affiliate of the National Reform Party. A few years later John became the director of development of Independentvoting.org, where he was incredibly successful.

John has appeared on Fox News, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, Cheddar TV, PBS, and NBC and his written commentary on the subject of independent politics and electoral reform has appeared in USA Today, Newsweek, The Hill, The Fulcrum and dozens of local publications.

Aug 13, 202139:07
Mail voting and female leadership (with Amber McReynolds)

Mail voting and female leadership (with Amber McReynolds)

Amber McReynolds is an elections expert, author, leader, and mother. She is currently the CEO of the National Vote at Home Institute and was recently appointed to US Postal Service Board of Governors, where is the the only female member and the first person with voting and elections expertise to serve on the body. We visited about her experience reforming Denver's election system, the importance of having an equitable and accessible electoral system, and the role women can (and should) play in reforming our democracy. 

Aug 06, 202142:20
Appetite for Corruption (with Josh Silver)

Appetite for Corruption (with Josh Silver)

Who exactly do politicians work for, anyway? To answer that, we're joined by Josh Silver, co-founder and executive director of RepresentUs, and organization that brings together conservatives, progressives, and everyone in between to pass powerful state and local laws that fix our broken elections and stop political bribery. RepUs seeks to dismantle the root causes of inequities in our democracy and end political corruption, extremism and gridlock.

Aug 01, 202127:51
Hope for all voters (with Chad Peace)

Hope for all voters (with Chad Peace)

Chad Peace is a nationally recognized leader in election law, voter rights, and a legal strategist for the Independent Voter Project. We discuss his background, the rise of independent voters, and how that is affecting the landscape of the democracy reform movement across the country.


Jul 23, 202133:06
RCV in NYC (with Rob Richie)

RCV in NYC (with Rob Richie)

We're joined by Rob Richie, CEO of FairVote, to discuss his organization, where he finds his passion for democracy reform, and how RCV faired in the Democratic primary for the New York City mayor's race.

Jul 14, 202136:48
Introducing: How to Win Friends and Save the Republic (trailer)

Introducing: How to Win Friends and Save the Republic (trailer)

Thinking of subscribing? Here's a brief overview.

Jul 01, 202101:37